PFT Live: Are Pats’ problems X’s and O’s, or personal?

Posted by NBCSports.com on September 20, 2012, 3:46 PM EDT

PFT Live: Tom Curran of CSN New England joins Mike Florio to talk about the hometown New England media digging for personal, underlying storylines in the Patriots’ less than stellar start to 2012, typically unrelated to actual Patriots games. Curran talks about why the Patriots have been unable to lure offensive lineman Brian Waters back to the field, why Bill Belichick has cut Wes Welker’s playing time and more.

You know, some of us tried shedding light awhile back on the fact that having 18 un drafted free agents on the roster despite having a dozen picks every April is actually a dubious distinction.
It’s another way of saying Belichick doesn’t know what he’s doing when it comes to the draft.

The Pats problems are more broad than X’s and O’s, they have a math and strategy issue, of which Xs and Os are just one sub-branch of overall strategy. For example, Belichick didn’t realize the odds to win would be greater by playing for better field position. His arrogance gets in the way of his admitting the ignorance he has with respect to where his flaws lie, and that’s with probability and analytics that have held him back his entire career. He’s a great people’s coach, but he’s not a great strategy coach from a math and research and planning standpoint.